1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to treatment of household waste products. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system to recover recyclable materials from the municipal solid waste stream, so the materials do not have to undergo subsequent treatment and purification.
2. General Background
At the present time, one of the most pressing problem facing the country, and the individual communities therein, is the collection, treatment and disposal of municipal wastes. The use of landfills is swiftly becoming impractical because of the shortage of land, and municipalities will soon have to face alternate methods to dispose of such wastes. It is well documented that much of the household waste collected by municipalities comprises a great deal of recyclable material, which, if separated and treated properly, can be recovered or recycled. However, systems that have been developed, and as are shown in the prior art in the accompanying prior art statement, fall short of solving the problem. For example, since a vast amount of the waste material consists of paper or pulp products, the separation of the pulp material from other material, such as glass, metal, plastic, or the like, is extremely difficult. If the waste washed during a process, then the dewatering of the pulp or paper is needed, which results in a further expensive process, and compounds the problem of waste water discharge.
Therefore, it is advantageous to have a system which will clean, separate and dry municipal household wastes, so that the paper or pulp materials can be easily separated from the other materials, and the resultant products can be recycled separately.